Roughly three quarters of public feedback on the proposed Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard have been in favor of the deal going by way of, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority revealed at this time.
The feedback have been collected over two weeks in October as a part of the regulator’s inquiry into the deal. It obtained roughly 2,600 emails, however excluded round 500 as a result of “they contained abusive content material (with no different substantive content material), or have been clean, unintelligible, said to be from non-UK shoppers, or not in English.”
The remaining 2,100 have been cut up with three quarters in favor of the deal, one quarter towards, and a negligible quantity taking no clear stance on the merger.
The CMA additionally included among the causes folks said for his or her stance. A number of the arguments in favor of the merger included the next:
- Sony and Nintendo are stronger than Microsoft in console gaming, and the Merger will assist Microsoft to compete extra intently towards them
- Microsoft wouldn’t make Activision’s content material unique to Xbox post-Merger as a result of it could lose vital potential income from rival platforms
- The Merger is a response to Sony’s enterprise mannequin for PlayStation, which has traditionally concerned securing unique content material or early entry to widespread cross-platform gaming franchises, corresponding to Last Fantasy and Silent Hill
- The Merger will enable Microsoft to supply Activision with higher steerage and management, and to encourage it to speculate extra in video games apart from Name of Obligation
As for individuals who argued towards the merger, a few of their views included the next:
- The Merger would result in consolidation and would set a dangerous precedent within the gaming trade of buying giant publishers moderately than encouraging natural progress
- Microsoft will make Name of Obligation unique to Xbox, simply because it did with Bethesda after it acquired ZeniMax Media
- Microsoft can seize the multi-game subscription market after the Merger as a result of it may well afford so as to add video games to Sport Cross at a loss
- Microsoft is already dominant in cloud gaming, and the Merger might have an effect on the way forward for new entrants into that area
The CMA is because of launch its remaining report on the acquisition by March 1 of 2023.
